INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The family of a Fort Wayne woman killed when a stage collapsed in strong wind at the Indiana State Fair has filed a lawsuit alleging gross negligence and recklessness by the promoters and producers of the concert.
The lawsuit was filed in Marion Superior Court on behalf of the estate of 23-year-old Alina Bigjohny and her parents, Robert and Polly Bigjohny.
The Indianapolis Star reported the lawsuit contends fair and concert organizers failed to warn fans waiting for country band Sugarland to perform of an approaching storm. The stage rigging collapsed into the crowd following a wind gust.
“Without question there was gross negligence on many levels, from the state of Indiana on down,” said attorney Kenneth J. Allen. “Multiple entities had the opportunity to prevent this occurrence, to prevent these people from losing their lives and being harmed in the way they’ve been harmed.”
Bigjohny was a 2011 Manchester College graduate who was recently hired to teach seventh-grade English in Muncie. She attended the concert with a friend, Jennifer Haskell, who died of her injuries six days after the Aug. 13 collapse that killed seven people. Among those named in the lawsuit were Mid-America
Sound Corp., Lucan Entertainment Group LLC, Live 630 Group, Live Nation Touring and ESG Security.
Allen also has filed a lawsuit on behalf of the family of 42-year-old Tammy VanDam of Wanatah, who was killed, and her same-sex partner, who was injured.
LaPorte County Judge Thomas Alevizos has ordered the state to preserve the wreckage from the collapse as evidence. Alevizos also issued an order for the state to follow the protocols put forth by the engineering firm the state has hired to investigate the collapse.
Former Marion County prosecutor Carl Brizzi has filed a notice with the state that he will be seeking damages for the family of Glenn Goodrich of Indianapolis, a 49-year-old security guard killed by the collapse.
Indianapolis law firm Cohen & Malad is seeking class-action status for a lawsuit filed against the state and companies involved in putting on the concert.
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